The rope ladder was lowered, and soldiers from the Noza Household descended holding the rope.
The mont their feet touched the ground, Vilan Tomin himself leaped with the agility of a beast, landing on one foot around the waist of a descending soldier, using him as a stepping stone. With the finesse of a triple jumper, he swiftly reached about halfway down the rope ladder and firmly grabbed onto the rungs.
‘Impressive.’
He must be desperate. He climbed the ladder as if propelled by sheer force, quickly reaching the top, but just as he did, he was kicked in the chest by a soldier above and fell to the ground.
‘Is he dead?’
The rope ladder, to prevent it from being pulled back up and retrieved, was being held by the soldiers below, but the rope was cut and it fell to the ground. After that, there was so commotion, but it was obscured from view. Being downhill, we couldn’t see anything clearly.
‘Perhaps they’re using the first person who descended as a hostage.’
“ssenger! Go again. If they attack, co back.” (Yuri)
“Yes!” (??)
The obedient ssenger ran off. As expected, Vilan’s soldiers attacked, and the ssenger returned.
“No choice, let’s charge in. Liao, what do you think? If the supervisor at the checkpoint is a stubborn fool, we might not just get shot at.” (Yuri)
Liao, being the heir, it wouldn’t be good if he died.
“Let do it.” (Liao)
“Understood. Then go.” (Yuri)
‘If he says he’ll go, there’s no reason to stop him.’
“All right, let’s go! Everyone, be alert with your bows, shields ready!” (Liao)
Liao raised his spear and led the 300 n from the Rube Household, including the combined unit.
Perhaps angered by Vilan’s tyranny, the checkpoint supervisor didn’t shoot any arrows and made contact with Tomin’s army. Cheers and the sound of swords clashing began.
‘They’re really going at it. But still, even though it’s the duty of a commander, it feels odd just watching the battle from afar. Until now, I’ve always fought on the front lines, so it feels strange being passive like this.’
Being downhill, I couldn’t grasp the actual situation of the battle at all.
“Oh…” (Yuri)
The clashing of swords suddenly ceased.
‘Is it over?’
After watching for about ten minutes, a man erged, pushing his way through the soldiers of the Rube Household. It was Vilan Tomin. With his hands tied behind his back, the rope was held by a knight as Vilan walked towards us.
‘Had his comrades given up on him and handed him over?’
“Your Excellency Yuri, the Tomin Household’s forces have surrendered and offered this man.” (??)
The knight of the Rube Household said, saluting. It seed Vilan had been sold out.
“You… from that ti…” (Vilan)
Vilan looked at and spoke.
‘Was it Lulu? He had glared at when I used a random alias.’
Seeing him up close, he reminded of Dolla from his wild dog days. After I broke his nose in a fight during initiation, he beca more introverted, but if that hadn’t happened, he might have grown up like this.
As I was pondering this…
“Orraa!!” (Vilan)
Vilan suddenly freed his hands. The ropes that were supposed to bind him snapped, and he was free.
‘Oi oi oi.’
Vilan reached into his pocket with his right hand and thrust his left hand towards . I instinctively drew my dagger, but I couldn’t defend in ti and he grabbed my right shoulder. He pulled my shoulder towards him, twisting my body.
“Damn—” (Yuri)
In a flash of superhuman strength, my body was flipped around. My back was now facing Vilan, and I was pulled snugly into his chest.
‘Is he trying to take hostage?’
Vilan tried to press a dagger to my neck. I grabbed his fist holding the dagger with my left hand, preventing him. At the sa ti, I maneuvered my dagger between my arm and Vilan’s, trying to cut his arm. The blade scraped against sothing tal with a screeching sound but didn’t cut through.
‘Chainmail?’
During this struggle, Vilan’s free arm clamped down over my left arm.
‘This is bad. If my left hand, which is holding the dagger, cos loose, it’ll be seriously bad. If I end up just being a hostage, that’s one thing, but ultimately, I’ll probably be killed.’
Switching to thrusting, I lowered the dagger once and thrust it upward, aiming for the gaps in the chainmail. The tip of the blade dug into the links of the chain, and I could feel the sensation of tearing.
I thrust the dagger firmly into the upper arm holding the dagger, slicing and wrenching it out, then stabbed towards where Vilan’s thigh would be behind . It was a blind stab, but I definitely felt the blade sink deep into flesh. After stabbing twice with a crunching sound, I kept hold of the dagger and slamd my elbow into his side.
“Ugh—!” (Vilan)
Vilan’s grip loosened. I threw my weight backwards, shaking my head vigorously, and with a motion akin to a shrimp, I headbutted him with the back of my head.
“Pu—” (Vilan)
His hand released , and I was free. When I turned around, I was being restrained by soldiers from the Hou Household.
‘That was close. It was a hair’s breadth away. My heart is pounding. Was there a cut in the rope? This was definitely planned. Liao, you bastard, this wasn’t intentional, was it?’
“Hey, don’t kill him!” (Yuri)
I hastily stopped soone who was trying to spear him out of anger.
‘What do you think I stabbed his thigh for, not his side?’
“Tie him up properly. We’ll use him later.” (Yuri)
“Damn it! Let go!” (Vilan)
Vilan’s hands were forced behind his back by the soldiers, and his arms were tightly bound with a new rope.
“Give that.” (Yuri)
“What are you doing?!” (Vilan)
Taking the rope, I cut off a length and tightly bound his injured arm and leg, the ones I stabbed earlier. The bleeding from the thigh seed severe, but it appeared to lessen slightly once bound. Just to be safe, I applied pressure to the wounds with the bindings. It wouldn’t matter if his limbs rotted away, but keeping him alive was crucial.
—
“Enrique! Co here and check his face!” (Yuri)
When I shouted, Enrique, who was at the rear, slowly made his way through the soldiers.
“Hey…”
As usual, her mood was depressingly low, similar to a patient with depression. She had her hands in the pockets of a won’s coat and wore a scarf around his neck, looking completely out of place.
“What’s with you since the day before yesterday… still not feeling better?” (Yuri)
‘I didn’t expect her to rescue , but what’s up with this woman?’
“…I told you… after being excited, my mood drops…” (Enrique)
Her voice was so faint it was barely audible.
‘How low can her mood get? It was like dragging a shut-in outside.’
“Just check his face, okay? Then, you can go back.” (Yuri)
‘I don’t know what her problem is, but…’
“You—Chelmia! What are you doing here?!” (Enrique)
Vilan’s voice rang out. His face was twisted in shock as he stared at Enrique, crawling on the ground.
“Yeah, that’s Vilan. Can I go now?” (Enrique)
“Chelmiaaa! Help ee!!!” (Vilan)
The contrast in their reactions was stark.
Seeing Vilan’s desperate expression, I realized how much he had been fixated on Enrique.
‘It’s only been a month or so. For soone to make a man this desperate in such a short ti is terrifying.’
“Chelmiaaaa!!!” (Vilan)
“You’re noisy…” (Enrique)
Enrique looked at him like he was trash.
‘It’s ironic, but I almost felt sorry for the guy who had just tried to kill .’
“This woman is my subordinate. What a sha.” (Yuri)
“No—You’re lying! Don’t lie!! Chelmia! It’s , don’t you recognize ?!” (Vilan)
“Hmm, at this rate…” (Enrique)
Enrique muttered to herself as she walked closer to Vilan.
‘Wasn’t he supposed to be leaving?’
“Too bad. You got tricked. You spilled everything… and now look at you. Though even without that, we would’ve managed sohow…” (Enrique)
Enrique continued to add insult to injury.
‘That’s harsh.’
“That’s… a lie, right? Tell it’s a lie…” (Vilan)
Vilan looked like he had lost all hope in the world. If this were fild, it would serve as essential reference material for aspiring actors.
“You’re such an idiot… Marry ~, was it? Haa~… so pathetic.” (Enrique)
Enrique was rcilessly taunting him.
‘Anyway, I wonder what Enrique wants to do. Did she enjoy tornting those he had trapped? Given that Tillet had allowed her to do what she wanted, I supposed this was par for the course.
Originally, Enrique was supposed to kill Vilan in bed, but I had thwarted that plan. After receiving the report, Tillet suddenly asked if the assassination could proceed, and I gave the go-ahead. However, Vilan beca too busy preparing for the war to spend any ti with Enrique. So, the assassination opportunity never ca.
If Vilan had decided to enjoy his last night, Enrique would have killed him then. Perhaps Enrique was taking out his frustrations now.’
“Going to be king~, were you? And this is what happens in less than a week… haha, so funny! Vi-kun! Maybe you should have aid to be a codian instead!” (Enrique)
‘Stop kicking a man when he’s down.’
“…–ll you.” (Vilan)
Vilan’s face contorted as if he would cry tears of blood.
“I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you! Chelmiaaa!!!” (Vilan)
Vilan began thrashing about, trying to escape his restraints with surprising vigor for soone so badly injured. The large knight pressing down on him with a knee ensured he couldn’t break free, but Vilan seed oblivious to the pain. His voice was impressively loud, given his chest was being compressed.
Chelm—no, Enrique stood up.
“He’s weak… no good.”
‘Weak? What did Enrique an by that?
“What th—” (Yuri)
“Chelmiaaaa!!!” (Vilan)
‘Shut up.’
“Soone, pin his head down with your knee.” (Yuri)
During a brief lull in the shouting, I instructed one of the knights, who looked annoyed but complied, pressing his knee against Vilan’s temple. I approached Vilan and stomped down on the root of his lower jaw. The heel of my boot shattered his jawbone.
“Argh! Aaaaah! Awaaaiiaaaa!!!” (Vilan)
“Take him away and stitch up his leg wound. Every citizen in Oregano is waiting to see him hanged.” (Yuri)
As I spoke, three n bound Vilan’s hands behind his back and grabbed him firmly by the arms, dragging him away. Despite his violent thrashing, he was no match for three n.
“That’s pretty harsh.” (Enrique)
‘Look who’s talking.’
“Once his rage passes, despair will set in. I can’t have him biting his tongue.” (Yuri)
‘Besides, with his jaw broken, he can’t muster the strength. Though, given how energetic he seed, it might not affect him much in his heightened state, but it would make restraining him easier once he cald down. Escaping would also be more difficult. Releasing a vengeful maniac like that into the wild would be terrifying.’
“…Yeah…” (Enrique)
‘Her mood was down again… what’s with this woman?’
“So even that was weak to you? That was pretty dark.” (Yuri)
‘You don’t see that kind of rage every day.’
“…That was just soone being angry. Sure, it was a lot of anger, but I’ve seen plenty like that.” (Enrique)
‘That’s… scary. How many tis have you seen sothing like that? So maybe this woman is a little crazy.’
“…Well, I wouldn’t want to be killed by soone like that. It doesn’t give a thrill at all.” (Enrique)
“What kind of person would you want to be killed by, then?” (Yuri)
‘I an, normally no one would want to be killed by anyone.’
Enrique stared at my face intently.
“…Well, if the opportunity arises…” (Enrique)
“Hey.” (Yuri)
I felt a terrifying chill.
‘Maybe I should deal with him now.’
“Anyway, can I go now?” (Enrique)
“Yeah, thanks for your hard work.” (Yuri)
“Alright then…” (Enrique)
Enrique trudged away, disappearing among the soldiers.
Reviews
All reviews (0)